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Sunday, May 29, 2005

Stomp! Shout! Scream! is approaching it’s first deadline. The entry cut-off dates for the big Fall film festivals are coming up in June and the film still needs to be conformed and mixed in order to be ready. I’ve been saying since day one that a rough cut Stomp! Shout! Scream! just looks like a crappy movie, but an HD-ready, mixed-in-surround-sound, beautiful Stomp! Shout! Scream! is really something. I think it is. I did get a look at the re-transferred HD tapes earlier this week and by all accounts the film is absolutely beautiful. No one will believe that we got the look we got on our budget.

The last month has seen the animated opening credits inch forward. The hazard of working with really talented people is that they’re often very busy. Since I had more time than money (still no money, but now less time), Radical Axis Animation Studios kindly offered to do the animation at a reduced rate in their “down time.” There hasn’t been as much down time as they’d expected and the animation is in need of some work before it’s done. All the pieces are there for a really amazing open, I just hope it’ll be ready when my deadline hits.

As far as the mix goes, I’ve resigned myself to getting a rough mix that takes care of any major sound issues and going back to do a fine-tuned surround mix later. A good 90% of our location sound is perfectly good for the mix, it’s just those few lines that had to be recorded in impossible situations that will need to be replaced. Once again, I’m working with a really talented sound designer, but he’s just been so busy that we haven’t started on the mix yet.

The festival deadline is, of course, a self-imposed one. There are lots of great festivals year-round that I’d be happy to premiere at. The one with the best reputation for being a festival for film-lovers is the Toronto International Film Festival, especially the Midnight Madness Programme. That’s the one festival this fall that-- in my mind-- trumps all the rest. That’s the one I’d hold my world premiere for over any others. I just have to get the film ready and hope they will want to screen it.